Very good. Loved the characters, felt they were very relatable. The story was just a perfect love story. Well written and the writing just flowed and I was surprised to have found myself at the end of the book.

I don't usually like to give low ratings but this book failed to hook me from the very start. Suffice to say I got to 20% of the book and the characters only talked about how to set up a new football team, how to get sponsorship and stuff like this. It felt more like an how-to book than a romcom.

When we got the romantic portion of the books - very, very little romantic portion - I didn't care for it. It didn't sweep me off my feet, it was not the centre of the book.

I hate third act break up trope, but this one was really stupid and pretty avoidable with a simple conversation.

I don't think this book should be compared to Icebreaker, The Cheat Sheet and Ted Lasso. The first two focused on the romance portion a lot, and Ted Lasso was funny end enjoyable. Everything this book is not.

Still, thank you NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the ARC, sorry it wasn't my cup of tea

This was such a cute and quick read. I really enjoyed the aspect of them creating a football team. It was a different story line I haven't read before and it captured my attention. Ben and Lily had wonderful chemistry and banter. The grumpy/sunshine trope was done really well and I enjoyed Ben's character. I always love a grumpy MMC. Also, the side characters added depth to the story that made it more enjoyable as a whole.

Thank you Becky Ward and, Netgalley, and Avon for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Firstly I found it a tad odd that Lily never formally introduced herself to Ben and yet he seemed to know her name.

I also found the way that texts were used in this book really confusing. It felt like there was just a lot more ‘telling’ then showing in throughout which meant that the story felt really bogged down. There were also a lot of characters, which is to be expected given the nature of the story but still felt confusing.

The romance aspect of the book felt underdeveloped which was a bit sad and it seemed like it would have a lot of potential.

Unfortunately this story just wasn’t quite for me.

Unfortunately, I didn't fall in love with this book but I did find the romance between Lily and Ben really cute. I did like the sense of community that it gave but I did find the writing style a little hard to follow at times, so it did take me awhile to read and I did have to keep retrying and going back to it.

After going back and forth on ratings, I decided on 2 stars.

Just starting the book was boring. There was too much information being thrown at you that I couldn't enjoy the story properly. I get that the book centers around this small family, creating their own team after their home team moved locations away from the fans. It just felt off with all the info being thrown in your face.

While the steam and spice were ok, I felt like the romance between the MMC and the FMC was so so. The book, in general, felt like a sports movie where the little guy wins but had a small secondary storyline of a romantic interest that he kisses at the end. My point with that analogy is that I would definitely not classify the book as a romance, and would I definitely not compare this book to Icebreaker!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for an ARC!

Unfortunately, I didn't love this book. Whilst I thought the concept was really interesting and I loved the community vibes, the story felt very detached. I found the writing style was very fact-based, rather than descriptive, and it could be overwritten at times. It was like I was being told the logical feelings that a person could have if certain things were said to them, rather than being brought into the characters' lives and being made to feel what they were feeling. I wish the author the best of luck with the release though!

Really enjoyed this story! Such a cute, funny book. Loved the romance between Lily and Ben, although I do think the Romance is more of a subplot. The overall plot of the book was really enjoyable. I loved the team and really routed for them throughout. It was great to see them succeed in the end. The side-characters were great. Would definitely recommend this book!

Ben surprises everyone when he shows up to coach the team of amateurs Lily and her family have pulled together after their football team moved. He's the grumpy one, the one who has to remake his reputation while Lily is optimistic. I'm not a football fan but I did enjoy Ted Lasso and this has all those vibes, with a little rom com thrown in. It's a light fun read that will have you rooting for the team and the couple.

A fantastic novel, I loved the premise of this story. Its based upon the sale of Wimbledon in the early 2000's to Milton Keynes and the birth of AFC Wimbledon. I'm a big football fan, so it was good to see the start of getting a football club off the ground. I also enjoyed the fact hat once the football club had launched, they had a rocky start not winning any games, it takes ime for a side to gel together. I also enjoyed the secret, but not so secret by the end romance of Lily and Ben, not all footballers are naughty! Thanks to Net Galley for the advanced copy

This was a cute romance with a sweet story of an underdog soccer team, set in England. I really liked the idea of the premise of fans setting up their own team and the challenges and logistics that comes with it.

The love story was ok and frankly I think detracted a little from the soccer team story, which was really the focus of the book. The writing was also juvenile at times, especially during the somewhat random romantic scenes that appeared earlier in the book (yet then not again). And the MC’s love interest did some things around the middle of the book as part of a PR stunt that somewhat got just accepted as is and never discussed again, which didn’t feel great for the MC.

Overall an easy light read.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

As a Ted Lasso fan, I really enjoyed the premise of this and seeing a footballer with a bad reputation get his redemption. The romance was sweet and done really well. Great side characters and friends/family. Love seeing the underdog team be successful!
I liked that the romance was somewhat of a subplot versus being the whole focus.

I will post a review and edit on instagram on release day @thatbookishteach

This was a fun, light and fluffy sports romance book. It was an easy read and one I read in one evening. It was cute and enjoyable, but wasn’t anything groundbreaking or new. I would recommend for a fun, summer read x

This gave me all the sweet romcom vibes, it’s was funny, light, but very enjoyable! I enjoyed the characters chemistry a ton.

With the local football team moving to a new club miles away, Lily, her father and sister decide to start a completely new team made up from enthusiastic amateur players. A story of community spirit, heightened by the interest of a premier league player with a dreadful reputation as a womaniser and dirty play. But is this the truth? A lovely, feel good story, loved it.

Rating: 4/5
Spiciness: 2/5

If you've a fan of Ted Lasso and romance, this is the perfect book for you! Lily's family football team is moving out of their city, but Lily's dad is determined to create their own team to keep the friendships and good times going. Ben is a professional footballer with a bad boy reputation who just happens to be the older brother of one of Lily's new players.

This book has great characters not just the leads. I love all the players, the friends, and the fans. This may sound shallow of me but I normally hate when a contemporary romance book goes on and on about the main character's life outside of the romance part. But I actually really enjoyed Lily's family and reading about the team's journey so I wasn't mad when I didn't meet the MMC until later. I love how easy and fun Lily and Ben's relationship was and I was about to rate this book 5 stars but sadly there was some OWD at the end and I kinda lost interest in the MMC. To be clear, there is no cheating as far as I'm concerned but I don't think Ben handle the situation properly and it gave me some apprehesion towards him. By the HEA, I was less in love with him than I had been before. Still a good book overall!

Note: Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the advanced copy. This review is left voluntarily and is purely my own.

What a delightful book full of fun and so easy to read and enjoy and I loved the characters especially Lily and Ben following their story plus a few comedy moments.
Becky Ward brought the characters to life and you really feel for the main characters well done.
Would highly recommend.
Look forward to reading more books by this author.

This was an okay story for those that have been watching ted lasso in a continuous loop for ages. But it was lacking. We have a newly created underdog football team in England, which was about the first quarter of the book, we have a need to refine his image pro footballer, Ben, who after coming to see his younger brother practice for the newly created team, finds himself only having eyes for Lily, a just finished uni young twenty something, who helped create this team with her dad and sister. The two start hanging out, building such a wholesome friendship and then feelings. Based on the summary I was expecting a forbidden romance but it was more like a they want to keep things on the DL due to their involvement with her team and him trying to reform his image. They're heart eye moments were meltworthy and thoughtful but the romance was not the main plot of the book. Between soccer and all the side characters, there wasn't a lot of room for the reader to fall in love with the two MCs.

A fun read yes, but ultimately I wanted more from this story.

Thank you Netgalley and Avon Books UK
for the ARC in exchange for my review!

Playing the field was such a fun read! I feel like it's rare to read romances that also touch on the theme of family and community as well as this one did.

The pacing felt really good, the only exception was I felt a bit of a drop in momentum once everything had been established plot wise in the middle of the book. But I loved how it felt like we followed Crawford United from it's initial stage all the way through and that moved at a really good speed. I also love how the Crawford United was also a mechanism that helped introduce the reader to the family and get to know Lily's world better. A family run football team felt really refreshing for a sports romance.

There are a couple of plot points that felt a little bit confusing, which is the only reason this book isn't getting a solid 4-5 star rating. Firstly, Lily's boyfriend is only sprinkled in the beginning so I feel like we join her at an almost awkward time because their relationship occurs so early on in the book that I didn't really feel any kind of way or emotion towards that part of the plot. Similarly, Lily being a student feels a little confusing. We gather that she's at uni, but it feels like a part of her story that is so distant from everything else going on that her academic success similarly didn't make me feel anything.

I loved Ben & Lily they were really fun characters. Ben is so quick, witty and the scene where he gives the kid a haribo is beyond adorable. He has such a heart of gold but I liked that he wasn't 100% perfect the whole time it made his character feel more realistic. The banter between Lily and Ben was immaculate. Don't get me started on the dinner date scene in the vineyard where the scene is full to the brim with sexual chemistry and such good light banter - it was my personal highlight of the whole book.

A great cosy romance that has such a wonderful focus on community! I loved the specific references to the O2 arena and the jubilee line, once again this felt really realistic to me. I would've loved some more character descriptions as I didn't have any super memorable images of Ben or Lily in my head but other than that it was great.

I really loved this book. The romance was so cute and I enjoyed the banter. The story line was very good and the setting was amazing.